


Those're my black earrings!

by CringeWorthyAuthor



Category: Riviera: The Promised Land
Genre: F/F, Post-Game AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22853545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CringeWorthyAuthor/pseuds/CringeWorthyAuthor
Summary: Inspired by a comment in the black earrings page of Dept. Heaven wiki comes this fanfiction.I do not own Riviera: The Promised Land
Relationships: Malice Ructor/Serene
Kudos: 1





	1. Lacrima Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just the part when the gang still comprises of three pips--Ein, Fia, and Lina. Yep, this chapter is a part of the game. You know what that means? FEEL FREE TO SKIP

There was something shiny beneath Ein “What is it? Should I pick it up?”

  
Recognizing that in order for him and the two girls to rescue the arcs he has to take everything available in sight, he moved closer to pick up the trinkets and closely examined them “What’s this?”

  
The dangles were shaped as black cats, the earrings’ hooks were golden. “We have too much in our hands already, let’s just throw this away,” said Ein. “Wait!” exclaimed Lina, “Lina wants to keep it! It’s too cute to throw away,”

  
“Well, if you want them then you can have them,” Ein smiled as he gave them to Lina. “Yey!” She grinned “Here Fia, you can have one.”

  
“Oh?” Fia was both amused and shocked but showed a grateful smile in reply, “Thank you, Lina. I’ll wear one,”

  
The girls wore one each and Ein smiled. Fia and Lina looked adorable with the earrings. “Well then, let’s go forward. There’s no other direction we could go,” he said, “but there may be enemies nearby so let’s be careful.”  
And so, they continued on their way until a scream was heard from the sky “Ahhhhh!!”

  
“W-what the?!” Ein almost jumped from shock, “What was that?!”  
Lina, however, actually jumped “I definitely heard that one!”  
They then turn to Fia who was looking upwards, mouth quivering from fear and concern, “S-someone’s being attacked above us,” she said as she pointed at the location they previously were for many, many times. They then looked upwards.

A blonde woman with black, feathery wings and an axe-like blue weapon attacked a teenage girl with bat-like wings and a scythe. Swinging it once, swinging it twice as the girl almost escapes, “Argh!” she exclaimed with each hit. The blonde woman chuckled, “Are we done with this game of cat and mouse?”

  
The girl we know to be named Serene flew farther from the assailant and barely used her scythe to quickly cover from the oncoming blows. “Do you really think you can escape? You have no home to return to,” said Malice as she smirked “Don’t worry, you’ll be reunited with them soon. You wouldn’t want to betray them, now would you?”

  
“WHAT?” Serene shouted as she changes from fleeing to fully being on guard and attack, “YOU’RE the one who did it! YOU…!!”  
“It’s like taking candy from a baby…” Malice awwed, “Oh how they screamed…”  
“You…” Serene growled as she gripped her scythe tighter, “You’ll PAY FOR THIS!”

  
With this, she swung her scythe at Malice who immediately hit it with her own weapon to block it. Furious, Serene continued swinging “I won’t lose to the likes of you!”  
“I’ll end your misery, give it up!” With each swing of Serene’s scythe, Malice could only give a quarter of the damage, but Serene was weak from the chasing. She didn’t have as much stamina left. Malice saw an opening and her smirk grew wider, “Despair! Your soul is as good as mine!” Malice flew higher, lightning shaped ice collided with Serene’s body as Guily Edge dealt 4x more damage than Malice’s previous attacks even when Serene tried dodging some of the ice.

  
With that, Serene landed on the ground in front of Ein, Fia, and Lina. “Uhmm… Are you alright?” asked Ein. Serene tried catching her breath, “Who… Who’re you?”  
“We’re not your enemy,” said Ein. Lina’s eyes transition from full of concern to full of hope, “She’s an arc!”

Fia moved closer to Serene, “We’ve come from Elendia,”

"E-Elendia?" Serene winced.

  
Malice landed closely behind injured arc “More of you?” She chuckled, “This’ll be fun,”  
Shocked, Serene jumped away from her “D-damn you, demon!”

  
Malice frowned at the word. Ein blinked, “She’s a demon?”

  
“A demon? That’s amusing…” Malice flipped her hair as she chuckled, “Then prepare to lose your souls to this _demon_!”  
Almost instinctively, Ein went between Serene and Malice “Stop it! Who are you?”  
Malice’s smirk returned, “The dead need not know my name.”

  
Ein’s eyebrows furrowed and he showed a look of anger as he pointed Einherjar at the blonde. “What?” Malice raised an eyebrow, “You want to be the first one to die?”

Ein just glared at her. Here he was, standing between an unknown perpetrator and someone who needed saving. He doesn't know what was going on, but he was glad to be of help to the arc. 

“Then your soul shall be mine!” Malice raised her own weapon at Ein and Serene. “Here she comes!” Fia and Lina both gripped their own weapons as Serene moved into a better fighting stance, “We won’t fall here!!” Ein shouted a battlecry.

  
“The hunt is on!” Malice shouted her battlecry as Fia was the first one to attack, stabbing Malice at the gut. “I’ll reap your pitiful souls!” she exclaimed, counter-attacking Fia and taking Ein with her in one swing. Ein swung his Diviner, but Malice successfully blocked it with hers. With this, Lina saw an opening as she aimed for Malice’s axillars since they looked to be an easy target. Serene had the same idea when she appeared behind Malice’s back, about to swing and cut a wing but finding herself to be dodging an arrow instead.

“Don’t move towards Lina’s aim, arc!” Lina scolded Serene with desperation. Lina’s arrow thankfully missed the arc, but it also missed its original target. “Tch,” Serene swung at Malice’s back instead, confident that it would give damage. Malice, however, jumped and took a lift, dodging the arrows and the rapier’s stabs. “Playtime’s over,” The black-winged woman flew higher and summoned slash-shaped ice projectiles at Ein. With each projectile, Ein sliced them easily with Einherjar.

  
“A Diviner?” Malice landed on the ground again with a look of pure astonishment “Why does a sprite have a Diviner?”

  
A Diviner. Ein has heard that before. His eyes widen as he heard that word, a memory almost sparking within him but couldn’t. Malice stayed silent for a moment as the others regained strength, Serene debating with herself if she should attack or wait. “… Who are you?” Malice looked seriously at Ein as he gazed down towards Einherjar “Diviner? I heard that before…”

  
Suddenly, both Ein and Malice fell down to their knees. The Diviners emitted a bright white light and faded “Ugh, my head…!” Ein whimpered “Ugh… Ahh!”

  
“Ein? Ein!” Both Fia and Lina moved closer towards their friend. Serene also came with concern “What’s going on?”

  
Malice growled, “This isn’t good. At this rate, my Diviner would be rendered useless.” Another white light as Ein screamed in pain. “I have no ch-choice but to leave,” said Malice “consider yourselves lucky.”


	2. Then we meet again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a kind of apology where it's just hard to accept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after the Rose True Ending, this is where the fun starts.

Serene gazed upwards at the sky. The arc was at the rooftop of Lacrima Castle when she remembered her arc friends being scared of a ghost in Ignis Castle. The ghost's name was Laura, but she never heard of her again. The demons were still roaming around Lacrima Castle. However, they were slowly but surely decreasing in number so it was deemed safe for her to be alone. Serene frowned as the breeze howled, the wind caressing and drying her tear-stained cheeks.

Her former friends died. When she met Ledah, he told her that they can never be revived from their eternal slumber.

Instead of comforting Serene in her sorrows, Ein left the group to invest his time in research about the gods’ true plans.

Fia, being the granddaughter of Graham, took the duty of looking after Elendia while being busy with cleansing the whole of Riviera, regularly going to Flaybell Cathedral to pray. Serene only killed a few demons in Lacrima Castle, so maybe Fia’s prayers really were working.

Lina and Cierra, however, went off on yet another adventure—they were quite the duo—mostly and at least sometimes acting childishly, but were old enough to do things as they please.

First her kind, then her crush, now her friends.

“Why? Why is it that everyone…?” Serene whimpered. It was a sad sight to see someone who was strong cry, but Serene didn’t care. No one was there to see her, anyway. Not even Ein who would usually go anywhere to explore and find items or Lina to whom Serene constantly nags and teases. This time, she was alone. Yes, alone.

Serene’s hand moved up and wiped away the half-dried tears. Almost unconsciously, she touched the outer flap of her right ear and felt the earring Lina gave her. The archer figured that Serene was the owner of the earrings because she was near when Ein found them.

She denied it at that time, saying she never had earrings that looked like black cats standing up in a pounce. But since she had a helmet adorned with fake cat ears, Lina insisted Serene was lying.

Serene didn’t want to argue with her at that time even though there was some kind of a fallacy in the Haine girl’s logic so she just accepted the earrings. Fia was sad but also happy to give them and Lina being hyperactive about it.

With those thoughts, Serene regained the mood to stand up smiling. Her friends were gone, either dead or going off with their own paths, so she gained composure and determination to find her own. With that, she breathed in the air.

Then she heard a woman’s scream.

Well, it was more of a battle cry.

Curious, she flew towards the source of the noise. It was down near the fountain of water when she saw her, a blonde woman with white wings just like Marietta, but was wearing Malice’s clothes and wielding a sword, seeming to be quite inexperienced with the weapon while fighting a guard and a succubus.

“I’ve defeated your kind before, I can do it again!” She shouted as she dashed towards both her opponents as they began to get paralyzed from the light beneath them. Wanting to remain undetected, Serene hid behind a nearby pillar. When she was close, the woman sliced the guard’s arm “And again!” then without losing momentum, she then cut the succubus in half “And again!”

Serene released a breath. The woman didn’t have a bad leucism like that of the grim angels she met excluding Ein, but why does she sound much like Malice from their previous encounters?

As the woman relaxes, the demons still couldn’t move but they were clearly still alive. Without remorse, she finished them off with a stab each in their heads. Serene was taken aback when the woman turned her gaze towards the arc.

“Who…? Who are you?” Serene pointed her scythe towards the woman, taking a step backward “What is an angel doing here?”

“Has my appearance really changed all that much to the point that you don’t remember the face of a mass murderer?” The woman raised an eyebrow.

Serene furrowed her eyebrows “Wh-what?” gripping her scythe tighter she waited for an explanation, remembering from the previous battle with Malice in Lacrima Castle when she was almost shot by Lina for being careless. It felt like a long time ago now.

Malice frowned, “Well if you’re that dumbfounded,” she smiled, “Then I guess I’ll have to feed that puny brain of yours, now should I?”

Serene stayed silent as an answer, despite wanting to bark mean words at the angel. She wanted to cut her to pieces and feed her to the wolves, but she matured ever since Ein and Rose left while becoming less impulsive with each passing day after Lina and Cierra left. She spent more time with Fia to the point that the sprite’s maturity and patience rubbed on Serene.

Accepting the silence as a valid answer, Malice moved towards the fountain to sit and clapped her palm to her side, smiling while urging Serene to sit to her adjacent. Serene wasn’t that trusting of her gesture so she stayed put and leaned against the pillar in front of Malice instead. Malice shrugged her shoulders, “That’s fair, I guess. Since I didn’t give much of a good impression, killing off your kind and all.” As she said those words, her hand waved them off.

“Explain,” Serene demanded. Malice showed a small grin as she explains what happened.

When Malice died, her soul wasn’t immediately absorbed. In a spirit form, she overheard everything Hector said. She wasn’t a grim angel. She was never one. She, however, was still her kind before the experiment. She was still an angel but made to look and believe that she transformed into a grim angel, wings as black as a starless night sky and skin paler than a vampire’s.

When Cierra was revived from being one of the sacrifices, Ursula gave one last miracle and gift to one of the sprites—to be able to speak to the gods themselves. Serene figured that the sprite Malice was talking about was Fia since she constantly goes to the temple to pray for protection over the land.

“Your friend talked the gods over and offered me as a guardian when they revived me,” Malice then proceeded to stand up and offered Serene a handshake, “glad to be of service to you,”

With the cynical smile and the palm she was offering, Serene sensed the sarcasm and dryness in Malice’s tone of voice. The angel wasn’t happy with it and she was still untrustworthy. She was an enemy, after all.

Serene didn’t take Malice’s hand and looked at the blonde’s black eyes instead. Malice blinked, “Wait, is that?”

Serene wasn’t given the time to ask what it was when Malice’s palm moved over and touched the side of Serene’s hair. Like the demons from earlier, she was paralyzed but it wasn’t because of magic—no—it was because of shock. Malice gently brushed off Serene’s hair from the arc’s face and put them behind her ear. Serene felt Malice caress her cheek.

The angel then saw a black, shiny trinket—a black earring. “Where’d you find it?”

“Wh-what?” Serene fumbled, a blush forming in her cheeks. “Those’re my earrings! I was looking all over Lacrima Castle for them, they were…” Malice’s mouth line thinned, “G-give them back!” she exclaimed as she stepped backward, her once greeting palm now demanding what was allegedly hers. Serene took a breather and her blush faded away, “What?”

Malice bit her lip. “You want them?” Serene blinked. Malice nodded as she moved her palm closer to Serene, still open. Serene showed a spiteful look “They were given to me by my friends.”

“Those earrings are rightfully mine,” Malice gave Serene a serious look “I want them back.”

Serene arched her eyebrows. If Malice wanted them so badly, then what was stopping her hurting Serene? The arc smirked, “What’s stopping you from taking them?”

Malice’s seriousness turned into contempt, “Just give them to me and we’ll all be happy and dandy. The world would be a better place than it was if you return the earrings to me.”

Malice didn’t have Skadi. Serene, however, still has a scythe—far better than her previous one. She’s more than capable of finally avenging the other arcs—her friends. ‘But should I?’ Serene frowned, ‘They still aren’t resting. Guys… Everyone… What should I do?’

Serene looked at Malice’s eyes and saw a glimpse of a familiar arc. Seeing that Serene wasn’t budging to take the earrings off, Malice brought out a pendant.  
It was Serene’s pendant.  
Shocked, Serene pointed at Malice’s hand that was currently holding the trinket, “H-hey! That’s mine!"

“Give me back my jewelry first and I’ll give back yours,” Malice said, “Fair trade?”

  
Serene exchanged a look with Malice and took the earrings off. Opening her other palm in front of her, and closing the one with the earrings, she waited. Malice was evil, yes, but she was also lawful. They each exchanged the precious and sentimental black jewelry for the other.

Malice uneasily smiled, “So what brings you by Lacrima Castle?”  
Serene put on her pendant and looked back at Malice, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”  
“Oh, come on,” Malice put her hand at Serene’s side, touching the pillar that Serene was leaning against, “I already told you why and it’s obvious even. I’m here to cleanse Lacrima Castle—no—Riviera of the demons. You should be grateful that I’m here,”

Serene closed her eyes and blushed, but lighter than before. Breathing, she regained composure “Grateful?! You killed my friends! My kind! My precious home!” gripping her scythe, Serene stabbed the blunt end of the scythe on Malice’s gut and the said angel fell down on one knee. When Serene was about to use the sharp end to reap, Malice gripped the scythe’s handle.

“And I’m honestly sorry for that now,” Malice looked at Serene’s furious eyes “I know what it feels like to have no home to go to.”

Serene felt the angel’s regret but refused to accept the apology that still seemed like a lie. She tried pulling her scythe away from Malice’s grip and successfully did so.

Panicking, Malice readied her sword for any incoming attacks from the arc’s scythe. What came was a punch to her nose, instead. The punch was so strong, Malice lost balance and fell down on her bottom. Annoyed by the trickle of blood running down her nose, Malice only looked upwards with a bored expression “Do you know how hard it is to apologize when you have a pride as big as mine?”

“Hmph!” Serene looked away, “we’ll see how much your pride could take against a one on one.”


	3. A warrior makes friends with their enemies after the war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When both are warriors after the war, they make peace.

Serene was a warrior. At least, she considered herself to be one after the incident in Ignis Castle. She was the bravest of her arc friends, even more so now that she met Ein and the others, went to mazes, activated traps, and even finishing off strong enemies in the process. She was one of the people who defeated the Accursed—and was considered to be a hero of all of Elendia, maybe even the whole of Riviera. When she cursed the person kneeling before her now, she flew outside the building and waited for her opponent to fly up and follow the arc to attack.

However, that wasn’t what the angel did.

“I really don’t want to fight you, at least for today,” Malice simply stood up and gazed upwards where Serene was and blinked, “Have you ever thought of wearing a cute skirt instead?”

Serene looked at Malice’s frame. The angel didn’t show any signs of flying nor aggression. However, her comment made Serene furious to the bone, “I’ll show you how ridiculous a skirt is while flying if you fight me in the sky!”

“I’m really serious though, I’m not here to kill you. I’m here to kill the demons that reside in this place,” Malice only frowned and crossed her arms after dropping the sword to show Serene she meant no harm, “That’s my job at the moment,”

Serene furrowed her eyebrows even further but took what Malice said into consideration, “And what happens after the demons all die?”

“Then I’ll leave Riviera and return to Asgard.”

“You can go back to that place after all of what you and Hector did?”

“I was only doing what was ordered to me, even if I know what really was behind it. I can still go to Asgard since Master Hector was one of the seven magi,” Malice smiled, “Even if the gods are the ones who would pass absolute judgment and a person did a heinous crime, there are still some ways even the soul of a dead, witty lawyer could do to squeeze its way towards Heaven given the right resources,”

‘Well, I mean…’ Serene landed, ‘Malice _did_ say that she was revived by the gods, after all,’

Finally reaching the ground, Serene looked away, ‘I hate the gods,’

“So, are we friends?” Malice asked, again offering her palm. Serene was still giving Malice an angry look, “So what if you got assigned to clean up the mess you made? What if everything you said was a lie and you’re just saying those things to pull me off guard?”

“I promise you that I won’t attack you or your friends under reasonable circumstances and I apologize for any harm I dealt you in the past,” Malice was then getting impatient, “but could you _at least_ treat me with even an ounce of respect after killing off the demons in some parts of Riviera while still continuing to do so?”

Moments pass as they stare at each other. "Come on! My whole left arm is getting heavy by the second,"

It took some time, but Serene sighed and took Malice’s hand nonetheless, “Fine,”

“ _Thank you!_ ” Malice exclaimed.

“But I’m only doing this because it’s getting tiring and I don’t want an unwilling opponent,” Serene shook Malice’s hand and narrowed her eyes, “and don’t take all the credit. I kill all of the demons I come across.”

“Hahaha, of course,” Malice narrowed her own, “I’ll be needing more of your help,”

Serene tightened her grip of Malice as they continue to shake both of their hands “Oh, but I need _your_ help in killing off these demons,”

“Excuse me?” Malice tightened her grip as their hands continue to shake with increasing intensity, “ _I’m_ the one assigned with the duty of eliminating the demons you speak of,”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,”

“Yeah?!”

“Yeah!!”

Both of them vigorously put their joined hands up and down, gripping the other in the process. “I hope you enjoy your stay here in Riviera!” Serene gritted her teeth. “I can safely say for sure that I have, sprite!” Malice gritted her own teeth and continued shaking Serene’s palm.

“I have a name and I’m an arc, not a sprite!” Still continuing to shake.

“What! Is! Your! Name?!”

“Serene!”

“Nice! To meet! You! Serene! I! Am!"

“Malice! I! Know!!”

“Okay!!”

Getting tired of shaking each other’s hand so crazily, they both stopped and took a breather. They then looked at each other.

Then they both laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I should've made the title a little bit more different, but oh well.


	4. A privileged aristocrat is not an aristocrat unless of noble birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I REPEAT: A PRIVILEGED ARISTOCRAT IS NOT AN ARISTOCRAT UNLESS OF NOBLE BIRTH

Malice was an aristocrat. Atleast, she thought herself to be one when her father was once considered to have been a hero of their sector—maybe even the whole of Asgard. It never bothered her how there were rumors that spread across their area where Aleid worked for the demons of Utgard. Despite that, she was the teacher’s pet of her generation of angels, following every single strict order of the higher authorities—even more so towards the gods when her mother was sick. She obsessed over the gods, worshipped them, and prayed as time allows her to. It bothered her how her time and devotion spent were all for naught. When she smiled at the arc who was laughing before her now, she fought the urge for showing her shame, envy, and insecurities.

“Sooo…”

Serene perked up, “What?”

“Where’s my weapon? Have you seen it?” Malice smiled, “Does one of your friends have it?”

“I seem to have, uhmm…” Serene faked a cough, “ _Misplaced_ it,”

“Oh?” Malice’s eyebrow perked up, “So you’ve seen it somewhere?”

“Your diviner didn’t last all that long after you disappeared. It was a one-time use while we were fighting—” Serene halted when she saw the blonde grimace, then her eyebrows furrowed, “Well, if you like your axe that much then why don’t you just use another one? It can’t be that sentimental to you to stop using other weapons, you’ve even got a sword _now_.”

“It was crafted and carefully designed for me by master Hector, of course it’s sentimental to me—it was my weapon when I was under him—”

“Oh please, you’re still calling him your master even after you heard him talk smack about you like he owns you? That’s some sick domestic partnership if I’ve ever seen one,”

“You don’t know shit,” Malice barked, “there’s power in Skadi even you can’t comprehend—”

“The same one that you used against me, Ein, and the others when you got wrecked a bunch of times?” Serene took a step towards Malice, “It’s not about the weapon that you wield—it’s about skill,”

Then the arc frowned and looked away, ‘But also numbers and teamwork. If you or Hector or heck—maybe even Ledah—could have seen it, maybe you three could have won against us. We were really in a pickle at those times battling you guys, even with Ein’s newfound power. He could only unleash it if you guys were weak enough as to not hinder the whole group for becoming stronger,’

‘Maybe it’s because grim angels are the strongest when they’re alone,’ Serene looked towards her company, watching the thin line on Malice’s face slowly turning into a scowl. “Did I stutter? I’m telling the truth. Burn.”

“Whatever,” Malice rolled her eyes, “I could tell you’re hiding something, but I believe you won’t be glad telling me?”

“No,”

“Alright, then. Fine. It’s getting late, you should be going home to your cute and adorable treehouse. Come back when you’ll actually help decrease the demons’ numbers.”

Serene became tight-lipped, the insult was tiring, so she didn’t went into that direction anymore, “Sure, I’ll let you fuck around this place, sucker”

‘ _Excuse_ me?’ Malice thought as she watched Serene flying off towards the direction of the magic circle near a cliff. The angel then looked towards the direction of the sun. The sky was orange, the rays graced down the glass of Lacrima castle’s windows, and the air felt warm. It really _was_ getting late.

“Well…” a butterfly landed on her head, “It’s time to go back, I’m too tired mentally to continue,”

Malice’s hand waved off the butterfly to get off of her head, so the butterfly flew away. “I wonder where I could get an axe or even a halbert around _these_ parts. I can’t go back to Asgard just yet.”

Off in the distance, the butterfly flew towards a silhouette and landed on its pointed index finger. “May you rest in peace,” The butterfly then burst into flames. The ashes from the insect’s body fell down from the silhouette’s hand and the soot from the wings drifted off.


End file.
